Moi
soapbox cart is called "EmmelineP" after that there famous Mrs
Pankhurst; 'cos there ain't nobody more famous than wot she is. She lived in
the olden days when women wore long skirts an' 'ad big 'ats covered all over wiv
flowers an' fevvers. The fing is that women, even though they're mostly more
intelligent than wot men usually are, weren't allowed at that toime ter vote,
an' so they weren't represented in the most important place wot makes our laws.
Cripes, can yew imagine…!

Any'ow,
Mrs Emmeline P reckoned as 'ow that weren't fair, so she got tergevver wiv a
whole lot of ovver women wot also thought it weren't fair, ter make a fuss
about it. But the men in the Government weren't impressed, so nuffink got
changed. Well, the women, decided they 'ad ter do some real heavy publicity
stuff, so they chained themselves ter railin's outside Parliament 'Ouse an' ovver
important places; they interrupted political meetin's wiv 'ecklin' (cripes,
ain't that a good word?); some of 'em even went ter prison fer breakin' winders
an' settin' fings on fire; an' they called themselves "suffragettes"
(ain't that an even better word? I 'spose it means suff'rin' fer the suffrage).

Mrs
Pankhurst 'erself went ter prison an' all. (Mr P must 'ave been quite a bit
miffed about that, 'specially seein' as 'ow 'ee were a barrister wiv five
children ter look after. Stll an' all, 'ee supported Emmeline, wot is good fer
'im). Mrs Pankhurst an' some ovver suffragettes wot were in prison, refused ter
eat. It were orrible 'ow the prison authorities tried ter force-feed 'em, but
it didn't do 'em no good. When the women got real ill from not eatin' they was
let out until they got better, and then they was arrested again. It were an
'orrible painful game o' cat an' mouse.

Any'ow,
Mrs P an' 'er suffragettes won in the finish, but it weren't until just after
she died in 1928, that an Act o' Parliament were passed givin' the roight ter
vote ter all adults, includin' women. An' then a statue of 'er was put up in VictoriaTowerGardens,
jus' by Parliament 'Ouse. That were just a few years afore Oi was born. Oi went
ter see 'er once, wiv Peter. Yew c'n go ter see 'er yerself if'n yew're down
that way, 'cos she's still there. An' yew c'n read about our visit, if'n yew
want, in "Gang Petition" (http://www.peterstjohn.net/index_6.htm).